Dutch restaurant shows Steve Hofmeyr the door

2016-05-31 11:50

Steve Hofmeyr. (Gallo Images)

Cape Town – An appearance by Steve Hofmeyr at a restaurant in Den Haag in the Netherlands has been cancelled.

Hofmeyr’s talk that would’ve focused on the future of Afrikaners in South Africa was cancelled after South Africans living in The Netherlands made the venue aware of Hofmeyr’s racially provocative statements.

Johan de Villiers, of the African-European Indaba, a community for people from Africa living in Europe, announced on his Facebook page on Sunday that Hofmeyr’s appearance was cancelled at Studio Dudok after his "initial appeal to them to not be associated with his racially provocative statements".

According to his Facebook page, Hofmeyr was set to deliver a speech in the Flemish Parliament in Brussels, Belgium on Monday, titled "Waarskuwings uit Afrika – die aftakeling van identiteit as jy ’n minderheid in jou eie land word". (Warnings from Africa –the decay of identity when you become a minority in your own country). Hofmeyr was supposed to then speak at Studio Dudok in Holland on Wednesday where Martin Bosma, deputy chairman of the Tweede Kamer and member of the Partij voor de Vrijheid, would have interviewed him.

De Villiers told Netwerk24 that Martin Bosman’s interview with Hofmeyr was brought to his attention about two weeks ago by several people.

"Hofmeyr is coming here to 'file motions', among other things, together with the most right-wing parties for governments here to call upon the South African government to address farm murders more seriously," De Villiers told Netwerk24.

De Villiers says that of course they also want the South African government to do more to fight crime, "including farm murders, but also all other crime".

In a post on Facebook the restaurant explained why they cancelled Hofmeyr’s appearance. "We as Dudok have always taken a stance against any kind of discrimination and racism. We like to be a place where everyone feels welcome as a guest or employee," Dudok explained in a post on Facebook.

Since the news of broke of Hofmeyr's cancelled talk, some people have been praising Studio Dudok for their decision while others have posted some harsh criticism on their Facebook page. Read some of the comments here.

In a post on Facebook on Tuesday, Hofmeyr addressed the cancellation of his appearance. He wrote: "The freedom and invitation to tell our story is not being stopped by the Dutch – they were the ones who invited me – but by South Africans in the Netherlands who know we are busy hiding something gruesome," Hofmeyr says in the post. Read the full post here.